Adding new chickens

[gingerfarms]

I have a 9 week old pullet separated from the rest of my flock-all are 12 weeks-and am getting a new pullet tomorrow. She should be about 8 or 9 weeks. I was going to add the newbie (a polish) in with my other 9 week old (Ayam Cemani/Orpington mix). Other than the quarantine time and possible pecking, are there other issues to concern myself with? Any advice welcome.

 

[raeleigh26]

Chickens are flock birds, they'll appreciate the company. I try not to have fewer than 3 at a time.

Just go through your quarantine process, by ten weeks or so the size difference isn't enough that you would have much to worry about adding the 2 younger ones in with the rest. Do watch for aggression, but they should be fine.

 

[adickenscoop]

You want to make sure you introduce them gradually so they don't hurt each other...here is an infographic with tips on how to do this - http://www.poultrydvm.com/featured-infographic/caring-for-newly-adopted-chicken

 

[aart]

I have a 9 week old pullet separated from the rest of my flock-all are 12 weeks-and am getting a new pullet tomorrow. She should be about 8 or 9 weeks. I was going to add the newbie (a polish) in with my other 9 week old (Ayam Cemani/Orpington mix). Other than the quarantine time and possible pecking, are there other issues to concern myself with? Any advice welcome.

Sounds like you have 2 integrations to do.
Why is the 9wo separated from the 12wo's?
How are they separated?
Dimensions and pics of your coops and runs would be most helpful.

Polish with their funny 'hats' can be very susceptible to pecking.
Adding one to to one birds you'd think they would be happy with the 'company',
but territoriality is more likely to be the first reaction.


Most backyarders can't do a true quarantine...
Consider biological/medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article


Here's some tips on ....
Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.


This used to be a better search, new format has reduced it's efficacy, but still:

Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading, BUT some info is outdated IMO:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have a 9 week old pullet separated from the rest of my flock-all are 12 weeks-and am getting a new pullet tomorrow. She should be about 8 or 9 weeks. I was going to add the newbie (a polish) in with my other 9 week old (Ayam Cemani/Orpington mix). Other than the quarantine time and possible pecking, are there other issues to concern myself with? Any advice welcome.

Possible pecking covers a lot of territory. I don't worry about size difference that much, I worry more about maturity differences. Three weeks isn't a lot, it may or may not be significant. There is no way to tell in advance. I don't know what your 12 week olds are. If they are bantam the Cemani/Orp mix may be bigger than them. That doesn't matter nearly as much as maturity.

I find a much larger predictor of how much trouble you might have is how much room you have. The tighter they are packed the more likely you are to have trouble. When chickens have conflict one tends to run away, then avoid the other. They need enough room to get away when they run and to avoid in the future. Enough room can make the difference in a disaster or a very smooth integration.

One huge issue is the personality of the individual birds, especially the older ones. Occasionally you get one that is a brute and a bully. Being a bully isn't that unusual but some are maniacs about it. Many chickens will peck a chicken lower in the pecking order if their personal space is violated, as long as they have enough room to avoid that personal space or run away it's not a big issue. Occasionally you get one, usually a female, that seeks out to destroy any weaker chicken when you integrate. It doesn't matter how much room you have or anything else, if you are unlucky enough to get one of these you'll have problems. It doesn't happen that often, the more room you have the less likely this is to happen. I've never seen it myself but I've read enough posts on here to believe it does happen. If you are unlucky enough to wind up with one of these, well your life just got harder.

So what can you expect? Your quarantine will probably be over in a month. It's usually a real good move to house them across wire from each other for a while so they can get used to each other. So you will probably have an unknown number of 17 to 18 week olds of unknown sex and a couple of 13 to 14 week old pullets. I'd let them mingle starting in the morning in the run (if you have a run) with as much room as you can manage when you can be around to observe.

It could go so smoothly you wonder where is all this stuff we were warning you about. Mine usually go that way and I integrate them at 5 weeks. But occasionally you have to intervene. It's possible but unlikely that the two will immediately mix with the others. What I consider more likely is that the two will hang by themselves after they get pecked a time or two after invading the others' personal space. They usually learn that pretty quickly. Most of mine start out knowing that. That's why Aart's suggestion for multiple feed and water stations is important, let them hang separately.

Don't expect them to share a roost at night immediately. It could happen if you have enough roost space but my younger pullets almost never try to join the others until they start to lay. That's generally when they mature enough to force their way into the pecking order. On the roosts they are usually invading the personal space of a more mature chicken and are likely to get pecked so they sleep in a safer place. That might be the coop floor, your nests, or somewhere outside the coop. I don't care where mine sleep as long as it is predator proof and not in the nests. When they mature enough they will move to the main roosts. If any of yours want to sleep in the nests get back to us, we can probably help you with that.

One thing I try to avoid when integrating is to force them to be in close contact with each other. I try to give them as much room as I can when they are eating, drinking, hanging out, or roosting. I let them work these things out at their own pace. Depending on your facilities you may have to do some things, real life can get in the way of theory, but try to have patience.

Good luck!

 

[gingerfarms]

Thanks for all the helpful info. I just brought the polish home and have separated her from the cemani. It appears that the cemani has somehow injured her leg. It looks like a tendon injury as I couldn't feel anything broken. She walks fine for a while then the leg sort of juts out to the side. No paralysis or anything, but she's in our makeshift chicken hospital for observation.

Right now we have a small 2-3 bird coop from Lehman's and a 10x10 dog kennel converted to a coop. We will be building a larger permanent coop with a 16x36 run in the next couple of weeks. I just let the older birds out daily to free range in the meantime.